LANCASTER — Part of a state championship soccer team as a sophomore, Matt Hess has been working like crazy since then to enjoy similar success and pile up as many victories as possible every time he steps on a basketball court.

Just a few weeks ago, a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 4 title arrived.

And Tuesday night, before friends, family and hundreds of onlookers he doesn’t even know, Lancaster Mennonite’s senior playmaker orchestrated a 71-48 victory over Steel-High that kept the Blazers upright and moving forward.

Come Friday night, Hess & Co. (19-5) will be playing top-seeded Bishop McDevitt in the quarterfinals of the District 3-AAA playoffs at Hershey’s Giant Center.

Although Hess laced up his shoes on the other side of the parking lot for memorable contests at Hersheypark Stadium, being integrally involved in an indoor postseason event and not one played outside is something Mennonite’s 5-10 senior has been thinking about for quite some time.

Same for his teammates.

Shown talking to his team several years ago at the East Pennsboro Lions Club Tournament, Geoff Groff piloted his Lancaster Mennonite club to a 71-48 victory over Steel-High. (Mark Pynes, PennLive.com)

So after scoring 17 points, dishing out four assists and running eighth-seeded Mennonite’s transition attack and half-court sets with equal success, Hess will have his chance to play in a big game on the big floor before a big crowd.

“I’ve never had the chance to play in Giant Center,” Hess said. “We’re excited about winning. We set that goal a couple of weeks ago and we want to keep going as long as possible.

"District wins are a big thing.”

“Matt did a really good job of getting done tonight what we needed done,” Mennonite head coach Geoff Groff said. “He doesn’t need to be the guy. He can be if we need him to be, but he does what we need him to do.”

And that’s plenty.

Like handling the ball.

Like getting the ball in good spots to one of his teammates — 6-3 Zach Lehman finished with 17 points, Tyler Constein added 12, Darris Bair chipped in 12 and Julian Collazo wound up with nine for the remarkably balanced Blazers.

Like creating his own shot when needed, and knocking them down.

And like taking a defender off the dribble and finishing at the rack, just when Tramayne Hawthorne’s Rollers (17-7) were starting to make a second-half run.

Shown as a freshman playing in the East Pennsboro Lions Club Tournament, Matt Hess (5) scored 17 points Tuesday night as a senior in Lancaster Mennonite's 71-48 win over Steel-High. (Mark Pynes, PennLive.com)

“That’s something we’ve been working on a lot the second half of the season,” Hess said. “If we can execute in the halfcourt, be aggressive and get into the paint, we can make things happen there. A lot of good things happen when you get to the middle.”

And that was the case Tuesday night for the determined Blazers, who came out attacking and didn’t stop until they hit the showers.

Now they’re headed for Hershey and a scrap with McDevitt.

“Any time you win a game and you have a chance to keep going, that’s good stuff,” Groff said. “It was a big game and the thing this year that this group is trying to make work is they still have a chance to keep playing. I think high school kids want to play at the Giant Center.

(Hess on Lehman’s defensive work on Wright) “Zach did a tremendous job. He did what he needed to do, kept him off the glass, kept him from hurting us there. He’s going to get his points, scorers do that. Zach made it difficult for him to do that.”

(Hess on Lehman and Bair, who combined for 21 boards, and the impact they made) “That was a major emphasis, was for those guys to be physical down low. They were pushing guys around, not backing down. That was important for us.”

(Hess on Mennonite’s offensive balance) “That’s really important. When one guy gets hot and the other team shuts him down, other guys can step up.”

(Groff on calling time in the third quarter, when Steel-High was within five points) “I was just trying to settle them down. A lot of times I tend to let our guys ride those things out, but with the passion and intensity our guys were playing with, I called a timeout a lot quicker than I normally would. We knew they were going to make a run. I wanted to make sure they didn’t take us out of what we were doing.”

(Groff on Mennonite’s willingness to run with the Rollers) “A lot of people think we’re one of those teams that’s going to slow it down. We welcome the opportunity to push the ball and make good decisions. Tonight when we had numbers, we recognized that and we want to put teams on the defensive as much as we can.”

(Groff on punishing teams in transition and getting the ball inside) “If we’ve got the ball and teams are pressing us, there’s going to be open stuff at the other end. One of the things we were trying to do is we want to outscore teams in the paint. I don’t know the exact numbers, but I’m pretty sure we did that.”

(Hawthorne on Mennonite winning the battle on the boards and a lot of the hustle plays) “They were hungrier than we were. They wanted it more than we did.”

(On Mennonite’s willingness to run with the Rollers) “When you get to the playoffs, you go with your guns. We knew that’s what they like to do.”

(On Hess and Lehman) “We knew they were their guys.”

MORE NOTES AND NUGGETS

Steel-High was eliminated in the round of 16 for the second straight year. The Rollers lost last season to Boiling Springs. … With Tuesday’s win, Mennonite improved its home record to 11-0. … Wright led the Rollers with 17 points, while Jaki Haywood banked 10. ...

Former Roller standout Jordan Hill, a defensive lineman on the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, attended the game. … All eight teams that hosted round of 16 contests — the top eight seeds in the 3-AAA tournament — won Tuesday. …

Mennonite lost in last season’s round of 16, falling to eventual state semifinalist Donegal. … The 6-3 Lehman, who will play soccer at Geneva College, guarded the 6-6 Wright throughout the 32-minute exercise without picking up a foul. …

A Berks County officiating crew worked Tuesday night’s game. … Mennonite’s largest lead was the 23-point spread it sported when the contest came to a close. … Steel-High led just once (2-0), when Wright’s banked jumper fell 21 seconds in.